


Camp Half-Blood

by markleelover



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson, M/M, Minor Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun, Minor Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Nakamoto Yuta, Minor Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Jungwoo, Minor Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Moon Taeil, Minor Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Minor Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Minor Violence/Injuries, NCT as Demigods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22296316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/markleelover/pseuds/markleelover
Summary: When Mark's dad tells him that he is going to be spending his summer at a camp for "kids like him"- kids with the blood of the Greek gods running through their veins- he has no idea what to expect. No idea of the monsters he will fight, the things he will learn about himself, or the people he will meet. There's Taeyong, the most powerful demigod of their generation. There's Ten, who's too skilled with a sword for his own good. And then there's Donghyuck, whose sunkissed skin and archery skills catch Mark's eye from day one. He's in for a hell of a ride, that's for sure.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 7
Kudos: 66





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to my story! hope you enjoy :)
> 
> for the purpose of the story, the characters' ages have been adjusted. For reference, mark is 13 and taeil is 16. 
> 
> disclaimer: mark and hyuck are the main ship, but there will be a lot of content with the sideships (from Mark's perspective)

The last day of Mark’s eighth-grade year was when his life changed forever. He remembers bouncing up and down in his seat on the school bus with excitement for the freedom that his summer break would bring. He’d anticipated a summer filled with lazy cartoon days, cannonballing into swimming pools, and chasing after the ice cream truck. Instead, Mark was sat down by his father at their kitchen table for “a talk.” It made Mark nervous at first, to see his dad looking so serious. His jaw dropped when his father explained to him exactly who Mark was, what he was. Who his mother was. Mark’s mother had left them when he was a baby. There had never been any resentment toward her from his father. He’d explained to Mark that she just wasn’t a good fit for their family and it was all for the best. He’d accepted what his father told him, keeping a photograph of his father, mother and baby Mark taped up in his room.

Mark’s father slid two plane tickets across the table toward him. He read the destination on the white slip and promptly freaked out. His father explained carefully that he would be attending a summer camp for kids like him this summer, and that since it was in New York they’d be taking a plane. Mark had never ever been on an airplane before in his life and was so excited he leaped out of his chair, hugging his father tightly before racing up the stairs, shouting to his father that he needed to start packing. If Mark had been a little more attentive, a little more grown-up, he might’ve recognized the way tears brimmed in his father’s eyes to see his boy growing up.

Their flight was the next afternoon. Mark spent the morning before his flight visiting his friends, explaining that he would be gone for the whole summer. He promised to call them if he could, maybe send a postcard. Traveling on an airplane was an exciting experience, even though Mark was wedged between his snoring father and a woman who stole his armrest the entire time. When they touched down in New York, his father got a fancy pastry for him to snack on during their taxi ride. They stayed in a fancy hotel that night, and Mark marveled at the chocolates on their puffy, white pillows.

The next morning Mark felt his nerves setting in, but he did his best to act normal around his father. He dressed in his favorite t-shirt and shorts, and they loaded up a rental car with his bags and set off into the woods of Long Island. It was a bumpy and boring ride, dark green trees whizzing past Mark’s eyes. Eventually, they reached the end of the trail, and Mark’s jaw dropped when he saw who was waiting for him. An older man with legs like a horse’s stood underneath a rustic archway reading Camp Half-Blood. He pointed the man out to his father, but he couldn’t see him. It made Mark sad that he couldn’t share this part of his life with the person he loved the most. Sitting there in the car with his father, it hit him for the first time that he was venturing off by himself, and that this was the last time that he would see his father for three whole months. He cried a little, and they shared a hug over the gear shift. Luckily, the strange person waited for him patiently as he wiped his tears away.

They unload his bags onto the forest floor, and Mark waves to his father as he drives back down along the trail they’d come from. Suddenly he is very much alone, and he turns to face the man. He introduces himself as Chiron, a centaur and the activities director of the camp. Mark instantly likes him. Chiron seems laid-back, yet extremely wise. He tells him to leave his bags, they’d be handled. It makes Mark feel strange but he complies, following Chiron underneath the arch and into the dense trees. They walk a short distance before emerging from the forest into a wide, open space of green. Mark has to stop dead in his tracks to take it all in. He could see, far away, fields of farmland and a blue lake. There were multiple cabins grouped close together, and some larger buildings as well. Mark could also see a large pavilion atop a hill, volleyball courts, and stables with horses. The most significant thing that he noticed was the sheer amount of kids and teenagers in the space, running, playing, relaxing. He smiled, taking a liking to the place already.

“Neat, isn’t it?” Chiron asks, studying Mark’s reaction. Mark nods quickly. “I can have a camper show you around later, but first come with me. I’m sure that there are some things that you would like explained to you.”

Mark follows Chiron across the camp, to the “Big House,” as Chiron called it. They pass a couple of boys and girls practicing archery on their way there. Mark stops in his tracks, watching in amazement as a boy who looked younger than him picked up a bow half his height and nocked an arrow as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him. He squares himself up to the target, tanned face creasing in concentration. His wiry arms tremble with the effort of pulling back the bowstring, but he does it. He narrows his eyes and releases the string. The arrow hits the target with a satisfying thump, mere centimeters from the bullseye. A smile forms on the boy’s face, brighter than the sun. Mark looks away quickly, not wanting to be caught staring. The last thing he wants is to make any enemies on his first day here.

Mark notices Chiron waiting for him and he starts walking again, apologizing quietly. “Thinking you’re a son of the god of archery?” Chiron asks, raising an eyebrow. Since he’d seen Mark’s father, it’s obvious that Chiron is just teasing him.

“I don’t think that’s possible,” Mark answers, face scrunching up. That earns him a smile from Chiron. Mark smiles in return, and they continue walking.

When they arrive at the Big House, they sit down in a shady spot on the porch with glasses of lemonade. Chiron explains how the camp works. He says that its purpose is to provide refuge to children who are in danger because they are demigods. Mark cocks his head at this. What kind of danger does he mean? Chiron explains to him gently, not wanting to intimidate Mark, that there are monsters out in the world that could try to harm him because of the godly blood running through his veins. It scares Mark a bit, but he looks around and realizes that that’s why he is here. To learn how to protect himself.

Chiron says that after dinner they’ll have a campfire where he and a couple of other kids will learn who their godly parent is. A friendly camper named Winwin gives him a tour of the camp and helps him settle into his space in the Hermes cabin, the place where all of the unclaimed kids go. Mark hopes that he won’t have to stay there for very long. It is over-crowded and hot, and he remembers reading that Hermes is the god of thieves. He would like to avoid being robbed while he’s asleep, if possible.

Dinner passes without much struggle. It’s odd when it is Mark’s turn to sacrifice a piece of his food. He isn’t sure who to pray to, so he just prays that his mother, whoever she is, will reveal herself that night. He’d never had a mother before.

Once dinner is over, the bundle of nerves in Mark’s chest begins to tighten. The kids walk in a loud, chattering group to the amphitheater, where a large, orange fire is already burning brightly. The sun is beginning to set over the valley, casting the entire camp into shadows. Mark walks side-by-side with a boy he’d met at dinner named Lucas. Lucas is energetic, smiling widely and laughing loudly. He has shaggy, dark hair that falls in his eyes and gives him the look of an over-excited puppy. Mark likes him instantly. Lucas says that he’d arrived a few days ago, but they only do the campfires every Friday, so he is unclaimed as well.

An older camper herds Mark and Lucas into the front row of benches. A couple of minutes pass as all of the campers get settled in the amphitheater. The energy surrounding him is positive, all of the campers excited for the campfire to begin. Mark isn’t really sure what to expect, but he knows that it must be a pretty special event.

Chiron whistles to get the attention of all of the kids. He welcomes back the returning campers and greets the new ones. From what Mark gathers, some of the kids live here all of the time and others are only here for the summers and go to school during the winter. He supposes that he will probably end up falling into the second category. Butterflies erupt in Mark’s stomach when Chiron motions for them to come up to the front. The volume of the crowd lowers, still thrumming with excitement, but contained.

Mark walks to stand next to Chiron, Lucas following him, along with two kids named Renjun and Jeno. They seem to already be friends, brushing hands as they walk. He tries not to fidget under the hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at him, sizing him up. He searches the crowd but he’s only able to see up to about the fourth row, the rest of the campers falling into the shadows. One face stands out to him in particular, however, seeming to glow in comparison to the kids on either side of him. It was the same boy who he’d seen practicing archery, Mark realizes. He suddenly gets the inexplicable urge to know him, to learn everything about him. The boy’s eyes suddenly shift to focus on Mark. They lock eyes and Mark looks away quickly, cheeks flushing.

All of a sudden, the crowd erupts into cheers, clapping and shouting. Mark glances, wide-eyed, down the row to see Renjun levitating. The boy is supported by black, heatless flames at his feet. He looks around in shock and then tilts his head up to peer at the purple, shimmering symbol above his head. It is a torch, which Mark recognizes to be a symbol of the goddess Hecate. A few moments later, Renjun is returned safely to the ground, the symbol above his head fading away. He gives Jeno a disbelieving look.

Chiron eventually manages to calm down the campers. Mark figures that a child of Hecate must be rare. “Congratulations, Huang Renjun. You are a son of Hecate, the goddess of magic.” An older boy comes jogging over to Renjun with a bright, welcoming smile on his face. He first introduces himself as Kun, then leads Renjun away and up into the crowd. Mark realizes that he must be one of the counselors that Chiron told him about. The crowd quiets once again, and Mark shuffles his feet nervously. The air is thick with tension, everyone waiting for the next claiming to happen. It feels like an hour, but only about ten seconds pass before a collective gasp echoes around the amphitheater.

It looks like an angel has materialized on earth, Mark thinks, as Jeno is claimed by the goddess Aphrodite. His skin, flawless, glows underneath a light that doesn’t seem to originate from anywhere in particular. A pair of sparkling white doves circle around his body, rose petals floating through the air to settle at his feet. His glossy, pitch-black hair lifts from his forehead as a gentle gust of wind ruffles his clothing. It only lasts for a couple of seconds before the light, doves, and roses disappear, but Jeno’s aura remains the same. He breaks out into a blinding smile as he finds a rose tucked behind his ear, a gift from his mother, eyes crinkling charmingly and teeth as white as the dove’s feathers.

Mark blinks quickly as the sparkles subside, closing his mouth before he starts drooling. He wonders if Aphrodite had just cast a spell over the entire camp to fall in love with her son. Jeno’s counselor, a stunningly pretty girl with long blonde hair and soft eyes comes forward to welcome him. It takes much longer for the excited chattering to subside, which gives panic more than enough time to thoroughly attack Mark. What if he wasn’t claimed?

Mark didn’t want to be the last one up in front of all of the campers, but then there was Lucas, hovering in the air with flapping wings attached to his Nikes, grinning up at the glimmering caduceus above his head. Mark should have realized that Lucas would be a son of Hermes, what with his troublemaking tendencies and mischievous smile.

Dread washes over him like a bucket of ice water, a queasy feeling in his stomach. Now he needs to be claimed, or he’ll be embarrassed in front of the entire population of Camp Half-Blood, shoved onto the receiving end of pity he didn’t want. Once Lucas is back on the ground, Mark tries to muster up the positivity to congratulate his new friend, smiling weakly at him and clapping him on the back. Before Lucas can even meet the head of the Hermes cabin, a loud, inhuman screech echoes throughout the amphitheater. Mark flinches, looking around for the source of the noise. Before he can find it, he feels a heavy weight settle on his right shoulder. Something soft brushes against his ear and ruffles his hair. He tries not to shriek as he sees the wicked-looking talons curving over his shoulder. Thankfully, they weren’t digging in. He drags his gaze further up the feathered creature, quickly recognizing it as an owl. He takes a calming breath. Running around and trying to shake the bird off is not the wisest plan of action, Mark figures. His gaze finally settles on the animal’s face, noticing it’s sharply curved beak and large eyes. They dominate its face, circular and unblinking, a deep gray color. Most unsettling is the fact that they are fixed on Mark’s face. Slowly, as Mark watches, the intensity drains from its eyes and is replaced by something softer. For a moment, Mark felt as though he recognized them from somewhere. The owl suddenly hooted, nuzzling its feathered head into Mark’s neck. It evaporates into the air soon after, dissolving into silver sparkles that eventually fade as well. Mark feels something held delicately between his fingers that hadn’t been there before. As he looks down, he realizes that the owl had left him one of its feathers.

Mark remains frozen in shock. He could hear Chiron distantly congratulating him on being a son of the goddess of wisdom and warfare, Athena. Two boys emerge from the crowd to collect him and Lucas. Mark’s counselor introduces himself as Doyoung. He gives off an aura of seriousness, dark hair neat and speech formal, but Mark can tell by the twinkle in his eyes that it was just a front. Lucas’s counselor, on the other hand, greets him with a charming smile, introducing himself as Johnny and going in for a hug that Lucas eagerly returns.

Doyoung takes Mark far enough away from the amphitheater that they don’t have to raise their voices to hear each other over the raucous singing of campfire songs. He informs Mark that his new cabin is number 6. He’d be sleeping there tonight instead of the Hermes cabin, which Mark is secretly relieved about.

Doyoung says goodbye to him and returns to the campfire. Mark takes a moment to collect his thoughts, then starts to walk back as well, figuring that he should try to find Lucas or someone. Before he gets there he feels a warm hand grab his wrist. He makes an embarrassing squeaky noise as he is tugged back. Orange light from the campfire falls over a boy’s face as he emerges from the shadows. Mark immediately recognizes him as archery boy, the one who glows whether or not the sun is shining on him.

Mark steps back, tugging his wrist from the boy’s loose grip. His eyes are dark, unreadable, and Mark waits nervously for the boy to speak up.

“Who are you?” He asks hesitantly when the other boy makes no move to introduce himself. The boy crosses his arms over his chest, spine straightening, and even though he’s shorter than Mark he manages to look down his nose at him. Mark thinks he looks stupid.

“Shouldn’t you be introducing yourself to me? Considering you’re the one staring at me all the time?” Mark is taken aback by the boy’s accusing words and hostile tone. He wasn’t expecting them to come from someone who looked so docile, cheeks chubby and freckled. Mark bristles, mirroring the boy’s stance by crossing his arms as well.

“That was only one time! And you were looking at me too,” Mark huffs. A smile suddenly forms on the smaller boy’s face, but it’s the opposite of sweet. He looks as though he’d just won the lottery.

“Liar,” he says. Mark furrows his eyebrows. He’s not sure why this boy is acting so high and mighty, accusing him of lying, but he’s starting to get on his nerves.

“What?” He asks, trying to control his temper. It takes a lot for Mark to get mad, but this boy has somehow managed to upset him with only a few words. He wonders if he is the son of Ares, able to send others into a rage strong enough to begin a war. That wouldn’t explain the archery skills, though.

“Don’t even pretend like you weren’t looking at me when I was practicing archery,” Mark flushes red, realizing he’d been caught.

“Hey, at least I didn’t sneak up on you while you were walking by yourself,” Mark defends, trying to change the subject and shift the blame. The boy blushes, too, and looks down at his feet. A beat of silence passes where both boys realize that they’re now on an even footing.

Mark takes a deep breath and sticks out his hand.

“I’m Mark Lee. I just got here today from Vancouver and apparently I’m a son of Athena,” Mark is just glad that he managed to get through all that without stuttering. Now he has to wait to see if the boy will return his handshake. He’s relieved when the boy takes a step closer, putting his hand in Mark’s.

“I’m Lee Donghyuck,” When the boy speaks this time his voice is much softer, and Mark is so focused on the feeling of his hand in his that he almost misses his name. “I’m a son of Apollo. This is my third year here.” Donghyuck’s hand goes up to touch the 3 painted beads that hang on a string around his neck.

Donghyuck’s hand is tanner than Mark’s, warm skin soft except for the calluses on his fingertips. Their eyes meet as Donghyuck finally lifts his head, and Mark drops his hand quickly, a weird churning feeling in the pit of his stomach. He’s desperate to break the tension that suddenly formed, so he says the first thing that comes to his mind.

“I know. That you’re a son of Apollo, I mean. You sort of glow,” Donghyuck fixes Mark with a weird sort of stare, like he was trying to see inside of his mind, decipher his thoughts. Mark doesn’t like it at all, his face suddenly feeling hot and the back of his neck itchy. He takes a couple of steps away from Donghyuck, raising a hand to brush through his hair. It’s a nervous habit he’s never been able to get rid of. “Nice to meet you.”

Mark takes hurried steps back to the amphitheater, wanting to disappear before Donghyuck can track him down and confront him about his strange words. He thinks that he hears a soft, “Nice to meet you, too” as he walks away, but it could have just been the wind.

***

Mark has trouble sleeping his first night there. The Athena cabin is tidy and well-organized, and its inhabitants are polite enough, but he feels homesick. His brain is too active for him to fall asleep and he’s too scared to get out of his bed and wake anyone up, so he grabs a book about Athena that he’d taken from a bookshelf earlier. He stays awake reading underneath a sheet with a flashlight until the sun starts to filter in through the curtains.

He’s woken up by Doyoung less than two hours after he’s fallen asleep. Mark’s a light sleeper, but Doyoung has to shake him to get him awake.

“Sorry,” Mark says, blushing when he’s finally awake and realizes that Doyoung had been shaking his shoulder. Doyoung squints at him through sleepy eyes, displaying for Mark the image of a confused bunny. He murmurs something about it being part of the job and stumbles in the general direction of the bathrooms.

Mark rubs his eyes tiredly and looks at his surroundings. His roommates are all in different stages of readiness. Some are similar to him, still trying to wake up, and others are already showered and making their beds. Mark walks over to the large cork board occupying the wall next to the door. It has the individual schedules of every single camper hanging on it, flyers about upcoming events, and a large calendar overviewing the month. Mark finds his schedule pinned closer to the bottom. He laughs quietly to himself as he reads “basket weaving” as the first activity on his agenda. It’s better than mathematics, he supposes.

Mark gets dressed quickly, cleaning up his area and making his bed. He’d just take a shower at the end of the day when the bathroom was less busy. At 7:30 sharp, a knock echoes throughout the cabin. Doyoung’s face is pained as he goes to answer it.

Doyoung swings the door open. Judging by the face that he’d made, Mark was expecting some revoltingly ugly creature to be standing there. Instead, it was a pleasant-looking teenage boy with a pad of paper and red pen in his hands. Mark notices his hoodie in particular, a baby blue color, embroidered with a flower on the front.

“Hello, Doyoungie,” the shorter boy says. He gives Doyoung a small bow and a sweet smile.

“Taeil,” Doyoung responds, moving to let him inside and then closing the door. Taeil begins making his way around the cabin, methodically inspecting and checking things off on his clipboard. Eventually, he reaches Mark’s bed. Taeil looks at him and tilts his head curiously. His intense gaze should make Mark feel uncomfortable, but Taeil’s eyes are warm and his smile gentle. The scent of flowers reaches Mark’s nose and he realizes which cabin Taeil must be visiting from.

“I haven’t seen you around here before,” Taeil reaches his hand out for Mark to shake. “I’m Moon Taeil.”

Mark shakes his hand. “Mark Lee.” He isn’t sure what to say, nervously watching Taeil make checks on his paper. He doesn’t want to be the reason for his cabin to lose points and end up doing the dishes.

“I’m head of the Demeter cabin, I’m just here to make sure that Doyoungie is keeping his cabin in order,” Taeil says as he crouches to look underneath Mark’s bed. He nods to himself, makes a final checkmark on the paper. He circles the number 10 on his board, signing his name and ripping the piece of paper off the pad swiftly. He presses the paper into Doyoung’s chest where he’s still standing near the entrance of the cabin. He opens the cabin door, looking back over his shoulder at Doyoung.

“Great job as always, babe,” He says, disappearing in the next moment, the door closing after him. The whole cabin bursts into laughter as Doyoung’s face heats up.

“I told him not to call me that,” Doyoung mumbles, folding up the piece of paper confirming their perfectly tidy cabin and putting it in his pocket. He raises his voice to address the whole cabin. “Everyone be sure to check your schedules, they may have changed,” Doyoung sounds authoritative and confident, but the tint to his cheeks betrays him. “Breakfast is at 7:45, I trust that you all can get there without my help.”

With that, Doyoung is gone, the wooden door shutting behind him with a bang. The cabin was silent for all of two seconds, before a girl shouts, “Twenty bucks he left to go make out with Taeil!”

***

“Dude, did you even sleep?” Lucas says around the piece of bagel in his mouth. Mark scowls at him and drops his tray on the table, plopping onto the bench next to him. He begins stabbing his strawberries with his fork in lieu of answering.

Mark glances up as he notices someone hovering nearby. It’s Renjun, the boy from the Hecate cabin. He looks nervous as he stands in front of Lucas and Mark, tray held carefully in his hands. Mark swallows his strawberries and waits for the boy to speak.

“Can I sit here?” He asks. “Jeno will be coming soon, too.”

Mark opens his mouth to speak, but Lucas beats him to it. “Sure, man!”

Mark looks at the apple slices on Renjun’s tray and frowns.

“I’m a picky eater,” Renjun says, picking up a slice of apple in his delicate fingers, just as Lucas shoves a waffle down his throat. The morning is already off to an interesting start even before Jeno arrives.

“You have no idea how many sparkles I found in unmentionable places this morning,” Jeno says as he slides on the bench next to Renjun. The boy chokes on his water, causing Jeno to freak out and begin hitting him on the back. All of the commotion almost distracts Mark from the other person standing next to their table. Once Jeno is absolutely positive that Renjun isn’t dying, he swivels to face him.

“Guys, this is Jungwoo,” Jeno introduces him to the group. He gives a small wave. Jungwoo is pretty, Mark realizes, one of the prettiest people he’s ever seen in real life. He feels Lucas freeze up next to him, and he resists the urge to laugh. _That was fast_. “Jungwoo is my…” Jeno trails off with a frown.

“I’m here to protect him from all of his secret admirers,” Jungwoo says. He sits next to Jeno, thrifting a chunk of pineapple from Jeno’s plate with long, dainty fingers. Lucas’s leg shakes. “It happens every time one of Aphrodite’s children comes to camp for the first time.”

“I’ve already had to reject three people!” Jeno exclaims, pouting.

Breakfast goes on this way, sharing stories between them that they found funny, learning more about each other. At one point, Lucas teases Renjun about his height, so Renjun reaches over and grabs Lucas’s orange juice. Immediately it freezes, frost creeping up the sides of the glass. Lucas’s jaw drops, reaching out and feeling the ice crystals on his fingertips. The baffled look on Lucas’s face causes Jeno, Jungwoo, and Mark to explode into laughter while Renjun just shrugs, a small smile on his face.

“Kun taught me that.”

Basket-weaving goes better than Mark expects. It is lead by an older woman whom Mark learns is a daughter of Athena. It doesn’t surprise him much. When he’d been reading last night, he learned that not only was Athena the goddess of wisdom and warfare, but also crafts. While Mark would rather have the ability to do something cooler, he supposed it’s nice to know that he would always be able to knit his friends nice blankets.

They have the class with kids from Hephaestus cabin, and it’s comical to watch the muscular teenagers, used to working with metals and scorching flames, try to weave together the straws into a shape resembling a basket. Mark does pretty well, getting praised by the instructor more than once.

“You’ll make the most beautiful baskets someday, Mr. Lee,” she says, pinching his cheek. Mark smiles at her until she goes away.

After basket-weaving is an Ancient Greek language class that Mark finds to be more challenging but also more fun because they have it with the Hermes kids. As demigods, they are born knowing the basics of the language, but they have to develop their knowledge. Luckily the teacher makes it fun, not boring. It also helps that Lucas is there, looking up vulgar words in his dictionary and whispering them to Mark until Mark slams the book closed.

They have lunch next, followed by a break period. Mark chooses to spend his napping in the Athena cabin, which would have been fine, except he almost makes himself late to his next activity by oversleeping.

He sprints to the archery range, out of breath and panting when he arrives. He groans inwardly when he realizes that they have their class with the Apollo kids. Mark doesn’t have to look for very long before he finds Donghyuck. He’s laughing brightly as he gets a piggyback ride from an older boy that Mark doesn’t recognize. Mark looks away quickly, not wanting a repeat of what happened yesterday. He doesn’t understand why he couldn’t have had his class with Donghyuck be something that he’s actually good at. Not that Donghyuck would have been impressed by his baskets, necessarily, but at least it wouldn’t end in Donghyuck laughing at him hysterically as Mark failed to hit the target over and over again, as this surely would.

Chiron is instructing the archery class, and he splits them up into pairs, one Apollo kid and one Athena kid. Mark holds his breath, prays to his mother, prays to Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, but he still gets paired up with Donghyuck.

Donghyuck gives Mark a small smile as they choose a target. Mark smiles back, hoping that it doesn’t look too forced. Chiron goes over the basic rules, the safety precautions, and then sets them loose, which is absolutely brilliant considering Mark has no idea what he’s doing.

Donghyuck stands back as if he’s waiting for Mark to pick up the bow first.

“Um,” Mark clears his throat. Donghyuck motions to the bow and Mark approaches it slowly. He picks it up and it’s much heavier than he expected. He stands there with the bow in his hands, feeling lost. Thankfully, Donghyuck doesn’t laugh at him.

“Let me guess, you’ve never done this before?” Donghyuck asks. Mark turns to him, shaking his head slowly. Donghyuck approaches him, takes the bow from it carefully, and shows him how to hold it, how to nock an arrow. Mark nods, sure that he is about to fail miserably at all the things Donghyuck just showed him.

When he takes the bow back from Donghyuck he holds it the best way that he can, but apparently it isn’t good enough for the other boy because he gets even closer to him. Mark sucks in a breath as Donghyuck gently maneuvers his arms and legs into a better position. He isn’t sure why, but the close proximity makes his skin tingle. He picks up an arrow for Mark, offering it to him with a smile. Mark wishes he would just stop, stop smiling and being kind to him because it is making him feel even worse than when he was being rude.

It takes about five attempts but Mark finally gets the arrow nocked.

“Pull the string back all the way to your mouth, if you can,” Donghyuck instructs. Mark does, almost shaking from the effort of it. He has a newfound respect for people that practice archery regularly. “Now aim and let it go.” Donghyuck’s voice is soft. He steps back, gives Mark space. Mark isn’t exactly sure how to aim, but he tries his best. To his surprise, the arrow sinks into the target, not anywhere close to the bullseye but at least not missing the circle completely. He turns back to Donghyuck with a victorious smile. Donghyuck leaves the archery range that day with three bullseyes; Mark leaves with sore arms and a sore ego.

***

Mark doesn’t see Donghyuck very often. There are archery classes every couple of days and the few times that he randomly sees him around the camp, but other than that they stay on their divergent paths. Mark finds that it’s easy to stay busy, but every time he lets his mind wander it goes back to Donghyuck. He’ll be folding laundry, doing dishes, trying to fall asleep at night and he’ll see Donghyuck’s smile, hear his laugh. It’s unsettling, to say the least.

Mark and Donghyuck keep themselves separated, that is, until dinner about a month after Mark arrived. Lucas comes over to the table, taking his usual spot on the end of the bench next to Mark.

“Guys,” Lucas says, at the same time as Mark notices someone in his peripheral vision sitting next to him. “This is Donghyuck.”

Mark stiffens immediately, feeling awkward and trying to chew his quesadilla quieter. He feels self-conscious next to the other boy.

“Hi,” Donghyuck says, and Mark can hear the smile in his voice even as he keeps his eyes fixed on his tray. Jeno and Renjun introduce themselves, and Mark lifts his head when he realizes that everyone is staring at him expectantly.

He swallows his food and says, “We already know each other,” He tries to keep his voice as emotionless as possible. Renjun smirks at this, Lucas oohing obnoxiously. Mark slaps Lucas on the arm.

“How did you guys meet?” Jeno inquires, being as kind as he always is. Mark’s eyes shift to Donghyuck, going wide. What is he supposed to say?

“Archery class,” Donghyuck lies easily, taking a sip of his chocolate milk. “Mark can’t shoot to save his life, I had to make sure he didn’t hurt anyone.” Mark’s friends start laughing at him, and Mark can already tell that Donghyuck has won them over. It irritates him more than it should. He isn’t sure how to stop feeling this way.

“It’s not my fault your dad is Apollo,” Mark mutters.

Donghyuck ignores him completely. “It’s okay though, I trained him up. Now he can even nock an arrow!”

Mark rolls his eyes. Dinner progresses, and Mark realizes just how good of a conversationalist Donghyuck is. He treats Mark’s friends like they’re his. At one point, a friend of Donghyuck’s from the Apollo cabin who introduces himself as Jaehyun comes over to their table.

“Just had to come see who I’d be competing with for Hyuckie’s attention,” Jaehyun says, pinching Donghyuck’s cheek with a teasing smile. Donghyuck slaps his hand away.

“Jaehyunnie,” He whines.

“Just don’t leave us forever, okay, kiddo?” Jaehyun says with a pout. Mark can see the resemblance between the two boys in the glimmering quality of their skin.

“I’m literally two years younger than you!”

“They grow up so fast,” Jaehyun wipes away a fake tear, leaning on the table. As he does so, a necklace with a sun pendant falls forward from his chest. “One moment they’re taking their first steps, the next they’re ditching you for their new, much better friends!”

Donghyuck stands up with a huff. “Okay! I get it!” Jaehyun is smiling triumphantly, and Donghyuck shoves him. He’s so tiny that Jaehyun barely stumbles. Donghyuck addresses the group with an apologetic smile. “Sorry guys, see you tomorrow?”

Once Donghyuck’s back is turned, Mark can’t help but follow him with his eyes. Jaehyun dwarfs him by an entire head, and Mark can’t help but think it’s cute the way he tucks Donghyuck underneath his arm. Donghyuck’s table cheers for him as he approaches. Mark notices how they all seem older than him by years. He scans his gaze over the group and realizes that he actually recognizes some of them. Doyoung is sitting there and appears to be debating something with Taeil. Lucas and Renjun’s counselors, Johnny and Kun, are there as well. Donghyuck slips onto the bench next to Johnny, who ruffles his hair affectionately. Jungwoo, Jeno’s friend, sits with two boys that Mark has only heard of, never met; Ten and Taeyong, the two most talked-about campers and visual opposites. Ten, a son of Ares, has piercings decorating his ears and glossy black hair, a leather jacket draped over his shoulders. Both Ten and Taeyong had come to camp when they were very young because they were so easily detectable by monsters. Taeyong is a son of Zeus and probably the most powerful demigod at camp, though he doesn’t look the part. He’s beautiful, with delicate features and big eyes that paint him as the picture of innocence. Mark recognizes Sicheng from the Demeter cabin, who’d given him his tour and also taught him how to weed plants when he’d been on garden duty. He’s adorable, with a soft accent, elf ears, and a pretty smile. He’s sitting pressed up next to an older boy, who Mark also knew about because of the fame of his parentage. Nakamoto Yuta, with Poseidon as his father, has powers that could rival Taeyong’s. Mark vaguely remembers playing a pick-up basketball game with him once, after Lucas had pretty much dragged him there, but Mark was too shy to approach him. Jeno’s counselor, Mina, is there with a couple of other girls.

“Dude, you’re staring.” Lucas nudges his arm, and Mark turns his head back to face his much smaller, much less rowdy friends. For a moment he feels almost envious of Donghyuck’s popularity.

“Don’t you think it’s weird how all of Donghyuck’s friends are older than him?” He asks.

“Donghyuck stays here all year round. He probably made friends with them then, when everyone his age leaves,” Lucas says. It makes sense, more of the older students choosing to come to the camp full-time either because of the danger or because they’ve decided on a career that has nothing to do with the regular world.

“You couldn’t be any more obvious, could you?” Mark’s head shoots toward Jeno. The son of Aphrodite is looking at him with a smug grin. Mark gets the feeling that Jeno knows something he doesn’t.


	2. The First Summer

Mark is on duty patrolling the borders of the camp. It’s an unpleasant job for a child of Athena. He’d spent the better part of his 13 years indoors reading or playing video games, and he’s paying the price now. The sun beats down on him even while in the forest, causing sweat to drip down his temples. The task isn’t improved by the partner he’d been assigned. Ten, who wears at least 6 earrings and carries a silver knife sheathed at his hip at all times, makes Mark feel nervous and jittery. The only reason that he didn’t turn tail and run was because of the way that he’d seen Ten treat Donghyuck, ruffling his hair and grinning. His smile was surprisingly nice, straight white teeth and eye crinkles that softened the boy’s sharp features.

They’ve been walking for five miles, almost twice around the border of camp, when they hear a shout from close by, near the perimeter. Ten halts, hand going to the handle of his knife. Mark freezes, suddenly aware of the weight of the sword on his back. Ten motions for Mark to start following him. The older boy’s footfalls are soundless and Mark tries to copy his light-footedness. 

“Shit!” Ten gasps as they reach a clearing, a strange part of the forest where the trees form a circle. Passing through it before, Mark had gotten shivers. Now, at the far edge of the clearing, Mark spots a 4-legged beast. It’s stalking toward a boy who’s laying on his back in the dirt, trying his best to scramble to his feet and away from the monster. Mark’s heart leaps into his throat as the distance between the two closes rapidly. The monster opens its mouth, revealing rows of wickedly sharp teeth.

“Hey!” He shouts. The monster’s head turns slowly in their direction, red eyes narrowing as his gaze fixates on them. Mark wants to sigh in relief as his attention is diverted from the struggling boy, but their problem is far from solved.

Mark feels Ten’s hand on his shoulder, as if he’s holding him back from charging the beast. “The barrier extends to there,” He says extending his knife to a point a few yards away from them. “You get the boy. I’ll get the monster.”

Mark nods, moving to the right, closer to the boy, as Ten stalks forward, drawing himself up like a cat would to make itself more intimidating. The son of Ares twirls his knife, the monster’s eyes following the movement. Mark can’t help but notice how slow and almost stupid the beast seems. As Ten draws the monster farther away from him, Mark focuses on the boy still laying in the dirt.

He looks to be about Mark’s age, chest rising and falling rapidly, eyes glazed over with something akin to shock. His jeans, hoodie, and face are streaked with dirt. Mark immediately notices the red seeping through the white fabric of the right arm of his sweatshirt, the way that the boy winces in pain when he tries to put weight on his arm to get up.

With Ten and the monster circling each other in his peripheral vision, Mark approaches the boy. He can feel the exact moment that he passes through the protective barrier that’s meant to keep monsters out. Adrenaline rushes through his veins and he quickly strides over to the boy. He kneels by his side, careful not to jostle his injured arm.

“I’m going to help you, okay?” Mark says. The boy’s brown eyes are hazy, but he nods. Mark extends his hand for the boy to grab with his left. Soon he’s on his feet, and Mark guides him to safety inside the camp borders. He breathes a sigh of relief once they’ve crossed. It was lucky that the boy’s legs weren’t injured, as Mark would never have been able to carry him. He opens his mouth, about to ask the boy where in the world he came from, when Ten yells.

“Mark!” He whirls on his feet, instinctively unsheathing his sword, which glows bronze. The weight feels strange in his hands, and he’s suddenly aware of how ineffective his training sessions have been toward preparing him to face a real monster. He didn’t actually think that he would ever have to fight one.

The sight that faces him is terrifying. Ten is cornered against a tree, sharp teeth inches from his throat. Mark sees multiple weapons sticking out from the monster’s sides, Ten’s prized knife deep in its neck. He realizes that the monster must be immune to the metal of the blades that Ten had.

“Hey, ugly!” Mark cries out. It’s all he could think to do, plagued suddenly with the vision of Ten’s slim neck pierced by the monster’s deadly canines. 

Luckily his strategy works, the beast turning away from Ten. Mark brandishes his weapon, celestial bronze glinting in the sunlight. The beast growls, and bounds toward Mark instead. In a moment of bravery, perhaps stupidity, Mark runs to meet it at the border. 

Everything happens in half a second. As the monster collides with the border, the walls of the border, normally invisible, erupt red. Shooting toward the sky and all around the perimeter, the flash of color will alert the whole camp that an intruder has come into contact with it. The border ceases the monster’s motion and allows Mark’s sword, thrusted forward, to drive upward into the monster’s open mouth. The weapon drives through the monster’s head. Its teeth draw blood from Mark’s arm as the monster falls to the ground, limp, and sword protruding from its face. 

Mark stumbles back several steps, gasping. He watches in astonishment as the monster disintegrates, turning into yellow, foul-smelling, sulfurous dust that evaporates into the air. Mark’s sword and Ten’s various weapons thump down in the dirt once the monster is gone. 

Mark falls to his knees, adrenaline fading as fast as it had come. His heart beats much too fast, pounding in his temples. He leans onto his hands, flashing dark spots interrupting his vision.

“Mark,” a voice says at his side, a hand coming to rest between his shoulder blades. It’s Ten, looking concerned. Mark’s arm stings, blood dripping down from the several cuts that the monster’s teeth had created. They weren’t deep, but he wonders, ground swaying before him, if he’d been poisoned. 

Mark thinks that he was probably right, as he slumps to his side on the ground. Distantly he hears footfalls and voices. Ten’s alarmed voice rings in his ears as he shakes his shoulder urgently. Mark ignores all of this, deciding to slip into the comforting blackness instead.

***

Mark has never been drunk before, but he assumes that this is what it would feel like to have a hangover. He opens his eyes, gradually adjusting to the bright sunlight. He’s surrounded by voices, people swarming all around him. He groans as a headache pounds at his temples. He’s being supported by hands on his upper arms, forcing him to sit up. He wants to snarl at whoever is making so much  _ noise _ .

“Eat,” he hears a voice say, something pressing to his lips. Mark doesn’t know what it is, but it smells like watermelon and the voice is soothing, so he parts his lips. Whatever it is, it tastes exactly like watermelon, but in the consistency of a brownie. After he swallows, it only takes five seconds before his headache subsides almost entirely. The voices don’t seem so loud or the sun so bright. 

He opens his eyes completely, taking in his surroundings. He’s in the same clearing where the beast had-

Mark gasps, memories of the monster rushing back. He struggles in the grasp that holds him to the ground, needing to get up, needing to warn all of these people about the monster that had almost killed Ten, almost killed him.

“It’s dead, it’s dead!” The same voice as before says. Mark struggles for a few more moments, but whoever is holding is stronger than he is, and he gives up. He turns his head to the left, in the direction of the voice. It’s Donghyuck, eyes wide. “You killed it, Mark. It’s dead.” Mark relaxes, letting out a deep sigh. “We’re safe.”

“What happened?” Mark asks when his heart rate finally slows.

“It poisoned you,” a different voice answers him, directly behind him. It’s Jaehyun, who must’ve held him down. Scattered on the ground around him and the two sons of Apollo, are medical supplies. “You passed out from the venom, but you’ll be fine now. We were able to give you the antivenom quickly.”

“You sure have a flair for the dramatic,” Donghyuck says, brushing dirt from Mark’s face. Mark blushes, distracting himself by examining his forearm, which is wrapped in white gauze. The boy hops to his feet. “C’mon. You have someone to meet.”

Mark lets himself be pulled in the direction of a larger crowd of people, Chiron included. A girl kneels in the dirt bandaging the arm of a boy in a white hoodie. Mark recognizes him instantly as their eyes lock.

“You’re-” Mark says.

“I’m Na Jaemin,” he cuts him off with a small smile. Beneath the dirt that smudges his face, he must be cute, Mark realizes. “Thank you.”

“I’m M-Mark Lee,” Mark stumbles over his name, the strangeness of the situation washing over him. Someone was thanking him? For saving them? Mark was sure that it was just a freak accident, that he’d gotten lucky, having nothing to do with his own skill or bravery. “It’s nothing.”

“Nothing?” Donghyuck pipes up. “From what I heard, it wasn’t nothing.”

Mark looks down at his shoes, blushing. A hand settles on his shoulder, saving him from the situation. 

“You need to get back to camp and out of the sun.” It’s Jaehyun again. Mark feels strangely compelled to follow his orders, trusting in the soft tones of his voice and dimples on his cheeks. He nods, turning to follow the boy. 

“I’m coming with,” Donghyuck says, tagging along by Mark’s side.

“Can you make it back to camp?” Jaehyun asks, concerned by the distant look in Mark’s eyes.

“I’m a bit tired,” Mark says, the floaty feeling returning.

“Okay, get on,” he kneels for Mark to get on his back. 

They walk back to camp like that, Mark on Jaehyun’s back, Donghyuck following behind. Mark’s eyes grow heavier and heavier with every step that they take. Hundreds of campers cheer when they emerge from the forest. Mark hides his face in Jaehyun’s shirt, not used to all of the attention. Somewhere along the way, he falls asleep.

***

Mark wakes up to darkness. He’s lying in a bed somewhere, covered with a blanket. Soft, yellow light comes from a lamp in the corner, illuminating the face of a boy, fast asleep in an armchair. Mark blinks when he recognizes him as Donghyuck. The position that he’s sleeping in looks incredibly uncomfortable, knees curled up to his chest and head lolled to the side. 

“Donghyuck,” he tries to say, but his voice comes out hoarse. “Donghyuck,” he tries again. The boy squirms, hand coming up to rub at his eyes. Sitting up, the hair on one side of his head is plastered down and he has lines on his cheek resembling the pattern of the chair. Mark giggles.

“What?” the boy frowns, eyes still half-shut. Mark just shakes his head. “Okay, whatever. You passed out again,” Donghyuck looks incredibly displeased with this fact. “Drink this.”

The boy hands him a tall glass of water which Mark drinks greedily, some spilling down his chin by accident. Donghyuck just huffs, wiping the water with a bedsheet and taking the glass back. He scoots his chair up to Mark’s bedside and sets up a medical kit on his lap. Mark gulps at the sudden close proximity. 

“Your arm,” Donghyuck prompts. Mark offers his arm to the boy, who takes it in a gentle grip. “I need to change the bandages, okay?” Mark nods. Donghyuck carefully cuts off the old gauze with a pair of scissors, balling it up and throwing it in the trash. Mark winces at the appearance of his arm. The four scrapes are a deep red color. Donghyuck doesn’t even bat an eye, and Mark has to wonder how he can be so immune to gross stuff like this. 

“Apollo is the god of healing,” Donghyuck makes small talk as he works, “so our cabin is in charge of medical.” Using cotton swabs, he applies a clear ointment that stings. Mark sucks in a breath. Donghyuck gives him an apologetic smile. “Sorry. Jaehyun is the best at this kind of stuff, but I’m not too bad either.”

“This is gross, I don’t know how you do it,” Mark says, examining his arm. 

“I’ve just gotten used to it,” he explains. He wraps Mark’s arm up again, and then scoots back in his chair. He doesn’t move away from Mark again, however, and Mark is glad.

“How is Jaemin?” he asks. 

“Probably worse than you,” Donghyuck grimaces. “He didn’t even know that he was a demigod, just got transported to our borders, and a monster shows up.”

“His arm?”

“Well, it got him pretty good with his claws. Luckily, the claws didn’t have any venom, but the scratches are deep.”

When Mark’s eyes widen, Donghyuck backtracks.

“He’ll be fine, though. He’s in good hands. It’ll just take a little longer for his to heal than yours.”

Mark nods, then yawns so hard he gets a headache. Donghyuck smiles at him.

“Back to bed,” the boy stands up, readjusting Mark’s blankets.

“Wait, but where do you sleep?” He frowns. Donghyuck shouldn’t be losing sleep just because he got injured.  
“I’ll be fine, Mark. Just go back to bed.”

Mark wants to protest, but he can’t fight against the tiredness that coaxes his mind away. Before he falls asleep completely, he thinks he feels a warm hand press to his cheek.

***

The next week is the slowest of Mark’s life. Confined to the infirmary so that Donghyuck can change his bandages and he doesn’t do anything stupid to mess up his healing, Mark only has the boy for his entertainment and his friends, when they come to visit. Mark makes a new friend in the infirmary, Jaemin. He gets to see him on his third day there, when he’s finally adjusted. Despite the circumstances, Jaemin wears a bright smile and an optimistic attitude. His hands are constantly moving, constructing miniature machines out of whatever scraps he can find. Mark wonders who his godly parent could be.

Lucas comes at least twice a day, bringing him a comic book and snacks. He begs Donghyuck to let him see Mark’s wounds, but the younger boy refuses. This earns him a pout. Jeno and Renjun come to see him as well, begging him to introduce them to Jaemin. Mark can already tell that the three of them are going to get along well, all of the same age and relative newness to the camp. Renjun shows Mark new tricks that he is learning, and Jeno sneaks him heart-shaped candies when Donghyuck’s back is turned.

And then there is Donghyuck himself. Mark spends a lot of time with the boy, who only leaves occasionally to attend training sessions. They eat together and sleep in the same room. Donghyuck takes Mark on walks around the camp when can tell that he is getting antsy being cooped up. He takes him down by the ocean, and they sit on the end of the dock, dipping their toes in the cool water and watching the sunset.

Mark learns more about the boy than he ever thought he would. His favorite color is red and he likes to sing, but refuses to do so for Mark. He’d grown up in Southern California. He’d come to camp when he was ten years old, being chased across the country by a monster. His father had saved him, getting him to camp and away from the monster. That’s why Donghyuck always wore a bracelet with the word “Haechan,” a gift from his father. Fullsun, he said it meant, the nickname that his father had given him. When Mark says that it is fitting for him, Donghyuck gives him a smile that makes Mark’s ears turn red.

***

  
Mark gets released from the infirmary on his birthday, August 2nd. Donghyuck walks him outside. The heat is sweltering, and Mark can already feel the sweat droplets forming underneath the bandages on his arm. 

“Mark!” Mark looks in the direction of the voices calling his name and sees Lucas, Jeno, and Renjun waving at him from the shade of a large oak tree. He grins at them, waving. He turns to say goodbye to Donghyuck, but the younger boy catches his arm in a tight grip.

“Mark, wait,” Donghyuck’s voice sounds anxious, and Mark turns to fully face the boy. He has a few inches on the younger. Donghyuck’s eyes catch the sunlight, flaming gold. “We’re friends, right?” He seems uncharacteristically nervous, and Mark softens, something in his heart shifting and making space for the bronze-skinned boy who’d won Mark over in a matter of a couple of weeks.

“Of course. C’mon,” Mark beckons him to follow him over to where his friends are standing. Donghyuck’s eyes widen, and he keeps his fingers loosely wrapped around Mark’s wrist as they walk over.

Lucas is standing with his arms wide. Mark tries to shy away, but Lucas drags him into a hug. Donghyuck lets out a soft gasp as Lucas hugs him as well, thanking him for taking good care of Mark.

They settle down in a patch of green grass, and Jeno pulls something out from behind him. He places it carefully on a blanket in the center of their circle. Mark gasps. 

It’s a chocolate cake, decorated with writing that reads “ _ HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK! _ ” Renjun lights the candles that are arranged on the cake. Mark blushes as they begin a messy rendition of happy birthday. He can’t keep the smile off of his face as he blows out the candles, making a wish.

They spend hours beneath the tree, talking and laughing, licking chocolate from their fingers and telling stories. Donghyuck and Renjun get along scarily well, ganging up on Lucas more than once. Mark’s heart flutters whenever Donghyuck’s eyes meet his across the circle.

The door of the infirmary bursts open with a bang and all heads turn in that direction to see Jaemin, leaping off the porch with a laugh. He sprints across the clearing towards the five boys. Jaehyun appears a few seconds later, chasing after him and yelling. Jaemin skids to a stop behind Jeno and Lucas, dropping to his stomach in the grass.

“Hide me!” he giggles, out of breath. Jeno blushes, peering down at him. Jaehyun comes to a stop in front of the laughing boys. He puts his hands on his hips. 

“Jaemin, I can see you,” he says sternly.

“No, you can’t!” Jaemin yells, voice slightly muffled.

Donghyuck giggles and Jaehyun turns to glare at him. 

“Now, as a responsible healer-in-training whom I’ve trusted with Mark’s well-being, you wouldn’t be involved in hiding a patient who needs my care, would you?” Jaehyun says, standing over Donghyuck, who tries to appear innocent.

“Yes, Jaehyun,” Donghyuck says, trying to keep a straight face. “I mean, no, Jaehyun!” he corrects, but it’s too late, Jaehyun’s already tickling Donghyuck’s sides. The younger boy laughs breathlessly, wriggling in the grass and trying to get away from Jaehyun’s ruthless, prodding fingers.

“S-stop, stop!” Donghyuck pleads, and Jaehyun finally relents. Donghyuck lays in the grass, chest heaving, a tear trailing down his face from laughing too hard. Jaehyun gets to his feet over Donghyuck’s body.

“So, kids, that’s what happens when you betray me,” Jaehyun acts tough but Mark can see his act gradually breaking, a grin tugging at the corner of his face as Donghyuck begs for forgiveness at his feet.

Jaemin places his chin on Jeno’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around the two boys’ shoulders who he was previously using as a shield. Mark notices that he’s careful not to press his bandaged forearm to Lucas’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he pouts. “But, a boy really needs time to socialize. I was getting so lonely in there.”

“I’m sure that your friends will be willing to visit you without you having to run after them,” Jaehyun scolds pointedly. He helps Jaemin from his place on the ground, gently inspecting his arm. “I need to make sure that this heals properly.”

Jaemin actually appears guilty this time, nodding. “Sorry, Jaehyun. I’ll be more careful.”

Jaehyun’s eyes soften, and he pulls the boy into a hug. “I hope your dad is Apollo. I wouldn’t mind you in my cabin.”

“We’ll find out tonight, won’t we?” Donghyuck says, sitting up and shaking grass from his hair.

“Yeah, campfire tonight,” Jaehyun winks at Jaemin. 

“I’m nervous,” Jaemin says with a slight frown.

“Jaehyun?” All seven heads snap in the direction of the voice. It’s Jungwoo, standing at the edge of the clearing with his hands clasped in front of him. Jaehyun shoots up from the grass, cheeks going pink. Mark smirks as he realizes what’s going on here. Donghyuck seems to have come to the same conclusion, letting out an obnoxious whistle. 

“Hush, brat,” Jaehyun ruffles Donghyuck’s hair before walking over to greet Jungwoo.

As Jungwoo and Jaehyun walk away from the clearing, Lucas gives a wistful sigh, staring off in their direction. Mark pats his shoulder comfortingly as Renjun snorts. 

“Gonna be okay, buddy?” Mark asks. 

“As if he ever had a chance with Jungwoo,” Renjun says, leaning back on his palms with a smirk.

“Hey!” Lucas protests, hitting Renjun’s thigh playfully. “I was getting there.”

Renjun opens his mouth to contest this point, but just then the dinner bell rings. Campers begin to flock from their cabins and toward the pavilion. Donghyuck springs up from the grass and tangles his fingers with Mark’s, tugging him in the direction of dinner.

“C’mon, Mark. I’m starved.”

***

As they filter into the amphitheater, excitement fills Mark’s stomach, bringing a smile to his face. It’s his fourth campfire, but this time he’s up in the stands with Donghyuck at his side instead of trying to inconspicuously stare at the boy from afar. Donghyuck bounces on his feet with anticipation, waving at Jaemin who is sitting down by Chiron and another boy, Dejun Xiao, who is waiting to be claimed as well. Renjun, Lucas, and Jeno are on Mark’s other side.

Older boys and girls file in behind them, and Mark can’t help but feel out of place. Donghyuck is popular in the camp, known by all campers and loved by most. Mark is a newbie, a nobody. He shifts and tries to get comfortable on the stone bench built into the hill.

“Who do you think Jaemin’s parent will be?” Donghyuck says, speaking loudly so that Mark can hear him over the din of voices. Mark tilts his head, considering this for a moment.

“I think it could be-”

“Donghyuckie!” A hand lands on Donghyuck’s shoulder, and the boy turns. Mark tries not to feel bitter at being interrupted. He turns as well, preparing to embarrass himself with his lack of social skills.

Behind them are Yuta and Winwin. The pair settle onto the bench, hands intertwining as naturally as breathing. Winwin gives Mark a kind smile that Mark returns, feeling a bit calmer. 

Yuta turns his blinding smile on Mark. Although Mark is sure that he doesn’t try to be, Yuta is intimidating. He’s a son of Poseidon, already making him more powerful than most of the campers. He’s wearing a sleeveless shirt, arms lined with hard muscle. He has a trident tattoo on his inner wrist, and multiple earrings adorning both of his ears.

“Mark, right? Saved that kid, Jaemin?” Yuta asks. 

“Yeah,” Mark manages to say without stuttering, an impressive feat.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Nakamoto Yuta.” Yuta offers a hand, and Mark shakes it, partly in shock. Donghyuck grins at Yuta.

“Mark and I were just talking about who we thought Jaemin’s parent is going to be,” Donghyuck says. “I was hoping Apollo.”

“He’s really charismatic, so maybe Aphrodite,” Yuta shrugs. 

“Maybe Hephaestus,” Winwin suggests. “Jaemin is always making something.”

Donghyuck opens his mouth to reply, but the bonfire blazes up brighter, signaling the beginning of the celebration. They face forward, listening to Chiron make his announcements. They sing, laugh, and Donghyuck cheers the loudest when members of the Apollo cabin accept their medals from winning the chariot races.

Finally, it’s time for the claiming ceremony to begin. Jaemin rises to his feet shakily, biting his lip and taking his place next to Dejun. Only a couple seconds pass before silver sparkles shower down around Dejun. The boy’s eyes, widened in shock, flash gray once before fading back to brown. Mark doesn’t miss the owl feather that’s made its way into his hand. Doyoung comes to retrieve Dejun, the newest member of the Athena cabin.

Jaemin, left alone, plants his feet and bows his head, waiting.  _ Sure, Jaemin may be charismatic _ , Mark thought,  _ but at this moment with the fire blazing behind him, he almost looked like- _

Screams erupted from the campers as fire traveled swiftly across the ground, burning a trail into the ground. It circled Jaemin, burning high, a wall that hid him from view. It seemed to engulf Jaemin completely. 

Mark gasped, lurching forward. Behind him, Yuta shot up as well. Donghyuck gripped Mark’s hand tightly.

“Wait-”

In an instant the fire had fallen from 6 feet tall to only a foot tall, burning blue and then disappearing so that only the bonfire removed. Traces of the fire remained: a black circle and lines were burned into the sparse grass. It had been a real fire, not just an illusion. But still, there stood Jaemin, unharmed.

“Congratulations Na Jaemin, son of Hephaestus,” Chiron said, deep voice breaking the stunned silence.

Cheers and whistles filled the amphitheater. Jaemin beamed at the crowd, adjusting the tool belt that had materialized on his waist. Mark didn’t know that much about the children of Hephaestus, but he knew that for one to be completely immune to fire was rare.

Jaemin’s counselor came to get him, and the cheers subsided. 

“Wow,” Donghyuck whispered. “I can’t believe  _ Jaemin  _ is a son of Hephaestus.”

“Winwin is smarter than all of us, I guess,” Mark said, causing Donghyuck to laugh.

After saying bye to his friends, Mark heads back to the Athena cabin. He’s exhausted and just ready to sleep. He stumbles tiredly into the cabin, prepares to throw himself onto his bunk, and-

“Oh, hi,” A boy with black hair is mid-climb up the ladder that provides access to the bed above Mark’s. He hops down gracefully. Mark recognizes him as Dejun Xiao, a newly claimed camper. He’d never seen him up close before, only from afar when he’d first arrived at the camp. He’s tall and lanky, with long arms and long legs. Mark tries not to stare at his eyelashes, dark and curly, framing even darker eyes. “Doyoung gave me the bed above yours. I’m Xiao Dejun.” Dejun reaches his hand out for Mark to shake.

“Mark Lee,” Mark says. Dejun’s hand is warm and soft, bigger than Mark’s own. The contact makes him blush slightly. He sits on his bed and starts taking off his shoes. An awkward silence quickly fills the space, and Mark hastily asks, “how old are you?”

“I’m almost 14. Six days until my birthday,” Dejun says, grinning happily.

“Really? Mine was today, I just turned 14,” Mark says, raising his eyebrows. Dejun sits next to Mark. Mark isn’t sure if it’s Dejun who doesn’t understand personal space or if he’s just not used to people invading his, but he can’t help but scoot back a few inches from the other boy. If he notices, Dejun’s smile doesn’t waver. 

“Oh, happy birthday!” he says cheerfully. “When’d you get here?”

“2 months ago. I’m pretty new,” Mark blushes.

“Not as new as me,” Dejun smiles. It’s bright and dazzling, and Mark can’t help but look away shyly. Dejun is wearing a black hoodie that says the name of a basketball team. His duffle bag is open on the floor, revealing a stack of books. A soccer ball is wedged next to the dresser. Dejun is almost as new as him, seems like an ordinary kid. Maybe he’d never realized how much he wanted a friend in his cabin. 

***

The last couple weeks of Mark’s summer at Camp Half-Blood pass by far too quickly. It’s Dejun’s birthday, and then Jaemin’s. He becomes good friends with Dejun quickly. They talk at night, walk between classes together, and Dejun fits in easily in Mark’s friend group. He’s seemingly perfect: smart, good at sports, attractive, and kind.

The last day for campers who don’t live at the camp full-time is August 25th. Mark spends the day before with his friends down at the lake. It’s a hot day and the water is refreshing, cool and clean. They arrive after breakfast, laying out their towels. Everyone but Renjun, who decides to lay out in the sun reading, is eager to get in the water. After 20 minutes of splashing around, Jeno and Jaemin decide to gang up on Renjun, plucking the tiny boy from his towel and running down the dock, tossing him in the water. Renjun emerges, spluttering and cursing at Jeno and Jaemin, who laugh and jump in after him.

They eat lunch by the water, talking and laughing, basking in the sun. Everyone looks blissful, but especially Donghyuck. Mark supposes that his father’s presence feels the strongest on days like these. Donghyuck’s skin glows bronze when the sun beats down on it, eyes sparkling gold. His skin is warm when he presses to Mark’s side.

When the sun starts to set, Mark feels a rush of melancholy. His summer is ending, and soon he’ll be back in the mortal world and starting his first year of high school. Just the thought of normal school bores him to death, and he’s nervous to return. He’s the last one by the lake, telling his friends that he needs a little more time. He sits on the end of the dock, dipping his toes in the water and watching as the water ripples out in perfect rings. He shivers as a gust of wind blows past, still just in his swim trunks. He hears footsteps behind him, and a towel drops on his shoulders. He pulls the fabric tight around his shoulders, instantly warmer.

Dejun drops down next to him, their shoulders pressing together. Mark had gotten used to Dejun’s skinship, constant touches and close proximity. In fact, he’d come to love it, Dejun’s smile, his presence. Dejun rivals even Donghyuck in clinginess. 

“Thank you,” Mark says, smiling at the boy. 

“No problem,” Dejun says. He’s still shirtless, and Mark feels the inexplicable urge to stare at his chest, his flat stomach. “Are you sad? That we’re leaving, I mean.”

“Yeah, kinda,” Mark admits. “I really don’t want to go back to school.”

“Me neither,” Dejun laughs. “I want to convince my parents to let me stay here.”

“Same,” Mark stares out at the setting sun, emotions rolling over him in waves.

“I’ll miss it a lot,” Dejun says, voice soft. “I’ll miss all of the people, you especially.”

Mark looks up at him with wide eyes. “Really?” He says- well, it was more of a squeak.

“Of course,” Dejun says. “You’re special, Mark,” He leans closer, their faces only inches apart. His dark eyes are filled with emotions that Mark can’t decipher. They dart down to Mark’s lips, and Dejun gets closer still, his impossibly dark lashes fluttering down against his cheeks as his eyes close. Mark stays perfectly still, and then Dejun’s lips are pressed against his, warm and gentle. Mark’s breath hitches, as he realizes,  _ holy shit, Dejun is kissing me _ . Dejun pulls away, looking worried. Mark is frozen in place.

“I’ll- I’m going too-” Dejun sounds flustered, cheeks redder than Mark’s ever seen them. “See you later, Mark,” Dejun says, practically running away and disappears up the trail to the camp. Mark sits by the lake until the sun sets completely, lost in thought as his fingers press against his still-tingling lips.

He sneaks into the cabin late at night, but Dejun isn’t there. He tries to stay awake, waiting for him to return, but eventually falls asleep.

The next morning is a blur, campers quickly packing up their stuff. Dejun’s bed is still made, so whether or not he’d been there at all is a mystery to Mark. Mark showers, gets dressed in his favorite t-shirt and shorts, packs his stuff, and meets his friends for breakfast. He slides onto the picnic table bench next to Donghyuck, who gives him a sunny smile and a piece of toast which Mark devours, trying not to think about the guilt he feels eating him up inside.

Halfway through breakfast Dejun approaches the table with Lucas. Mark realizes that he must have stayed the night at the Hermes cabin. He has dark circles under his eyes and he won’t make eye contact with Mark.

As Dejun and Lucas go to get food, Donghyuck breaks the silence. 

“Is he okay?”

“He looked really tired,” Jaemin says worriedly.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen him like that,” Jeno says.

“He never came to dinner last night,” Renjun points out. “I wonder if something happened to him.”

“Mark, you never came to dinner either.” Donghyuck begins. “Do you know if anything happened?”

Mark starts to panic, but Lucas and Dejun near the table again and he’s saved.

It’s one of the most painful breakfasts that Mark has ever had to endure. Dejun still won’t look at him, and Mark doesn’t know what to do. His brain feels all muddled and he can’t figure out the way that he feels. After breakfast, they make their way back to their cabins to retrieve their belongings, and gather by the entrance gate to wait for their parents. A man comes up to the gate, and Dejun springs to his feet. He runs to give the man a hug, and Mark realizes that it must be his father. Mark’s chest constricts. He doesn’t want Dejun to leave with their relationship like this, all confusing and awkward. Luckily, Dejun turns back and makes eye contact with Mark, sending him a wave. He makes a “call me” gesture with his hand and Mark laughs. He watches Dejun walk down the trail, disappearing into the trees. 

Mark knows that his dad won’t come for another hour, so after Renjun, Jeno, and Lucas get picked up he wanders around camp looking for something to do. He spots Donghyuck at the archery range and jogs over. Donghyuck’s muscles are taut as he pulls the bowstring back, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“Hyuck!”

Donghyuck jumps in surprise, arrow flying into the woods meters away from the target.

“Mark!” Donghyuck whines, tucking his bow under his arm. Mark grins, nearing Donghyuck. 

“I’m sorry,” Mark apologizes. Donghyuck narrows his eyes at Mark and goes to the shed where they store the archery equipment. Mark follows him inside, watching Donghyuck carefully place his bow on its designated hooks.

Donghyuck says that he has to go get something from the Apollo cabin, so they talk as they walk there. Donghyuck opens the door and lets Mark inside. Mark has never given much thought to the Apollo cabin, but it seems much cooler than the Athena cabin. A golden orb glows in the center of the room and gold accents decorate the walls. A mural of the sunrise covers the far wall, and all of the beds are made with fluffy down comforters that resemble the clouds. Soft music plays from somewhere. Donghyuck’s bunk is nestled closer to the back of the cabin. Mark has never seen his space before. It’s messy, but homey.

Photos of Donghyuck’s friends are strung above his bed. Mark smiles as he spots Johnny giving Donghyuck a piggy-back ride, Donghyuck wrapped up in a hug from Taeil, Donghyuck swimming in the lake with Taeyong. On Donghyuck’s bedside table, a tiny golden orb resembling the one in the center glows softly. 

Donghyuck retrieves a piece of paper from his dresser, beckoning Mark to follow him. They sit next to each other on the steps of the Apollo cabin. Their shoulders brush and sparks race up Mark’s arm. He shivers.

“Here,” Donghyuck offers him the slip of paper. Mark takes it and unfolds it. In Donghyuck’s messy handwriting, there is a phone number. Mark looks at him in surprise. “So we can talk during the year, if you want. I have a phone but I don’t use it during the summer because everyone is here.”

“Thank you,” Mark puts the piece of paper in his shorts pocket. Happiness blooms in his chest. He’d been sad to face nine months with no contact with Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck rests his chin in his hand as he fixes Mark with a calculating stare.

“What?” Mark says, cheeks heating up. 

“Something happened with you and Dejun,” Donghyuck says. It isn’t a question. Mark’s throat tightens. He turns to look at Donghyuck. The wind whips the boy’s brown locks against his forehead. Golden-brown eyes peer out at Mark from beneath light lashes, seeking the truth. Although he’d only known him for a few months, Mark already felt like Donghyuck could read his mind. There was no point in lying.

“He kissed me,” Mark whispers. Donghyuck’s eyebrows shoot up. 

“What! When?” the boy exclaims. Mark shushes him, feeling like someone is listening in on their conversation.

“Yesterday night on the dock, after you guys all left,” Mark’s cheeks redden as he recalls the tingling of his lips, Dejun’s face right next to his.

“I should’ve known,” Donghyuck laughs. “He said he forgot something on the beach.”

Mark studies the other boy. His face is down, hidden from view, fingers fiddling with the laces on his sneakers.

“Do you like him?” Donghyuck glances up, looking almost shy. Mark shakes his head.

“No, I don’t think so.”

Donghyuck lets out his breath, almost like he’d been holding it in anticipation.

“Oh,” It’s silent for a moment.

“I should probably get back to the-” Mark starts.

“Yeah,” Donghyuck climbs down the stairs and Mark follows him. 

“I have to go do a job for Chiron, so…” Donghyuck stares into the distance. Mark feels nervous. He doesn’t want to say goodbye.

“Ok, um, I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah,” Donghyuck laughs, hugging Mark tightly. Mark hugs back, tucking his nose into the crook of Donghyuck’s neck. As always, he smells like sunshine. “A lot later.”

Mark doesn’t cry easily, but he feels tears prick at his eyes, emotion choking him. He pulls away before he starts crying. 

“Bye, Donghyuck. I’ll call you.”

“Bye, Mark.” 

Mark begins to walk away, but he can feel Donghyuck’s gaze on his back until he disappears from eyesight.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [my twitter](https://twitter.com/markleelovr)


	3. Rescue

Mark stares out the window of his classroom, watching as the heavy snowflakes plummet to the ground. He taps his pencil against his cheek, notes long forgotten. His math teacher’s voice drones on in the background, but Mark really can’t find it in himself to concentrate. He is almost constantly daydreaming. It’s not always about Camp Half-Blood, but right now Mark is thinking about the way that the summer sun had glinted off his silver sword as it clashed against Donghyuck’s, practicing sword fighting. The way that Donghyuck, several times more skilled than him, had always won, putting Mark on his ass. For a moment he would stand over Mark, victorious, but then he would offer his hand, pull Mark back onto his feet, and instruct him on how to be better.

Mark’s phone buzzed on his desk, interrupting his daydream. He turns it over and reads the notification, smiling instantly when he sees who it’s from.

**Donghyuck☀️**

_you’re such an idiot_

He picks his phone up and puts it under his desk so his teacher hopefully won’t notice that he’s on his phone and ignoring her. Mark chews on his thumbnail, trying to think of a witty response.

**You**

_don’t you have anything better to do than bully me?_

**Donghyuck** ☀️

_awe dont worry markie!😊 i’ll always have time to bully you but aren’t you in school right now? pay attention!!_

**You**

_it’s nothing useful_

Mark puts down his phone and stares at the clock for the last ten minutes of the school day. When the bell finally rings, he stands up quickly, making his way through the throngs of people to the doors, where he pauses to wait for his friend.

“Hey, Mark,” Jeno gives Mark a bright smile and they exit the school. Mark pulls his hood up as he feels snowflakes beginning to land in his hair. Mark and Jeno begin to walk in the direction of Mark’s apartment.

Mark’s father decided to relocate them to New York City after Mark was introduced to Camp Half-Blood. Jeno was originally from New York City, and he suggested that Mark enroll at the same school as him so that he would know at least one person at the new school.

“Jaemin text you back?” Mark teased, pushing lightly at Jeno’s shoulder. The day before, Jeno had been distraught after being left on read by Jaemin for an entire day.

“Yeah, he was just busy with a task from Chiron,” Jeno sighs heavily. “I wish I was there. I hope he’s not too lonely.”

Everyone had decided that it was best for Jaemin to live at Camp Half-Blood full time. Given the circumstances of his arrival and the extent of his powers, he would be in danger in the mortal world with no protection from monsters.

“He has Hyuck, at least,” Mark points out.

“Since when has he been ‘Hyuck’ to you, Mark?” Jeno prods, giving Mark a knowing smile.

“Shut up,” Mark feels the blush on his cheeks, not entirely due to the biting winter wind.

The boys fall into a comfortable silence for the rest of their walk. Mark and Jeno take the stairs two at a time up to the apartment that Mark shares with his dad. Mark pulls his key from his pocket and is about to unlock the door when Jeno stops him with a hand on his arm.

“Do you hear something?” Jeno whispers, pressing his ear to the door. Mark furrows his brow and gets closer to the door as well. He doesn’t hear anything for a moment, but then there it is. A quiet clacking, like nails on a hardwood floor. The sound makes Mark’s hairs stand on end. His instincts tell him that there is nothing good on the other side of that door.

“What is that?” Jeno mouths to Mark. Mark only shakes his head. There shouldn’t be anyone home, which could only mean…

Mark carefully draws a tube of chapstick from his backpack. From the outside it appears normal, but when he removes the cap it transforms, the hilt of a celestial bronze sword settling comfortably in his palm. It had been a gift from Chiron, who proudly observed Mark’s sword fighting skills improve. Mark had been skeptical of the gift at first, but now he was thankful that he had it.

Jeno produces a small dagger from an inner pocket of his own coat and sets his jaw. Mark inserts the key, turning it slowly. Jeno gives Mark an affirmative nod, and the pair push open the door, leaping through to face the danger on the other side.

A monster stands before them, a scaly and towering beast. It bumps its head on the 10 foot ceiling as it spins to face the demigods. It resembles a scorpion but standing on two legs. It has sharp pincers protruding from its head, four additional arms, and a curving tail, with a deadly looking stinger at the end.

“A scorpion,” Mark breathes out, desperately trying to remember all that he had read about these monsters at camp last summer. “Don’t get too close, the stinger is venomous.”

The scorpion hisses at them, stalking closer and lifting its tail threateningly behind itself.

“Okay,” Jeno sighs, lifting his knife in front of himself. “You distract it, I’ll stab it.”

“Good plan,” Mark nods.

Jeno darts to the right, and the beast starts to follow him but Mark slashes his sword at it to get its attention. The scorpion, agitated, snaps its pincers at Mark. It gets uncomfortably close, drawing up to its full height and pinning Mark in the corner of the room. The monster makes several attempts to grab him in its pincers, but Mark fends it off with his sword. The pincers are large and have an iron grip, Mark recalls from his studying, allowing the scorpion to hold its prey still before stinging it. If the scorpion got him in its pincers, Mark would be as good as gone.

The monster lunges at Mark with a pincer but Mark ducks just in time, slashing his sword upwards and severing the pincer. The scorpion shrieks, thick, black blood spraying from the wound. Unfortunately, much of the blood falls onto Mark, burning through his clothing. Mark grits his teeth as he feels his skin burn, tries to keep himself upright to defend himself from the inevitable next attack.

The scorpion looms over him and Mark braces himself, but the monster pauses, distracted. Mark is confused at first, but then he sees that Jeno has leaped onto the monster’s back. Mark freezes in fear as the monster raises its stinger in Jeno’s direction, but before the scorpion can strike, Jeno plunges his knife deep into a gap in the monster’s scales.

The beast instantly begins to crumble away. Jeno, smiling triumphantly, lands in a crouch in the golden dust littering Mark’s apartment. It is the only remnants of the beast, which will eventually fade away, back to Tartarus.

Mark’s sword slips out of his hand as he falls to the floor, left hand clutching at his right arm. As his adrenaline fades, the stinging of his burns increases. His whole right sleeve had been dissolved by the acidic liquid. Jeno scrambles over to him.

“Shit, are you okay?” Jeno takes Mark’s arm gently in his hands, examining the burns. He gives Mark a worried look. “We should probably call-”

Someone knocking on the door interrupts Jeno. Mark swears, examining the disrupted apartment. How were they to explain monster blood and a flattened kitchen table to one of his disgruntled neighbors?

“Don’t worry, I got it,” Jeno pats Mark on the shoulder and rises to his feet. Mark slides across the floor until his back hits the kitchen cabinet, hopefully out of view from the door. He hears Jeno open the door.

“Hello! How can I help you?” Jeno greets the person at the door pleasantly.

“Is everything okay here? I heard a bunch of banging and yelling and-”

“Yes, ma’am, everything is okay here,” Jeno says reassuringly. “I’m so sorry about the noise, but it’s nothing to worry about.”

Mark can picture the million-watt smile that Jeno is probably deploying on his elderly neighbor at the moment. Coupled with his charmspeak, a gift from Jeno’s mother, Aphrodite, she really stands no chance. Even Mark is feeling strangely comforted from Jeno’s words.

“Oh, okay,” the old lady smiles at Jeno, charmed. “You’re a delightful young man, did you know that?”

“Thank you, ma’am. Have a nice day,” Jeno says sweetly before closing the door.

“Jeez, you didn’t have to woo her that hard,” Mark says.

Jeno shrugs and comes to sit by Mark. He digs Mark’s phone from his coat pocket and places it in Mark’s palm.

“Call someone at Camp Half-Blood. You could really use some ambrosia right now.”

Mark can’t help but agree. The pain has faded to a dull ache, but the appearance of the wounds is worrisome. Without thinking about it, he dials Donghyuck’s number. The boy picks up right away.

“ _Hey, Mark! Thank god. I was so bored,_ ” Donghyuck chirps cheerfully. “ _What’s up_?” Mark smiles at the sound of his voice before remembering why he called.

“Oh, um… Jeno and I were attacked?”

“ _What_?” Donghyuck yells in Mark’s ear. “ _You should’ve led with that_.” Mark can hear rustling in the background, probably Donghyuck rolling off of his bed. “ _Are you okay? Do you need help? Where are you_?”

“Jeno and I are at my apartment in New York City. It’s not critical, but I got a little burnt.”

“ _Okay. Okay_ ,” Donghyuck says, voice softer, comforting. “ _Stay there. I’ll be there in a few minutes_.”

“Okay,” Mark hangs up as he hears Donghyuck pulling on his gear. He calls his dad as well, explaining what happened. His dad sounds disappointed, but agrees that it would be best for Mark to stay at Camp Half-Blood for now. Jeno tries his best to put the apartment back together, cleaning up the monster blood that had splattered on the floor and kitchen counters.

Only a few minutes after he’d called, Mark hears footsteps in the hallway. Jeno gets up to open the door. Donghyuck hurtles through the doorway, Taeyong following behind him more slowly.

“Hi,” Donghyuck smiles at Mark, kneeling on the floor next to him. He removes the bag that holds medical supplies from his shoulder, digging through it and pulling out ambrosia. “There you go.”

Mark accepts the medicine gratefully, eating it quickly. He can feel as the godly food instantly takes effect, evaporating his pain almost completely. The worst of the sores on his arm heal over.

“Jeno, are you okay?” Donghyuck calls out. Jeno, who’d been talking with Taeyong about the incident, looks over briefly.

“Completely fine.”

"Is this true?" Donghyuck asks Mark under his breath. Mark laughs, nodding his head. Donghyuck pulls out bandages and begins wrapping his arm to protect him from infection. Mark can’t help but stare at him as he works, examining his features, checking for any changes. He hadn’t seen Donghyuck for almost 5 months, but now here he was in front of him, completely real and physical. Despite it being the dead of winter, Donghyuck’s skin retains its glow. There were almost no noticeable changes, except, perhaps, for his cheeks becoming a bit slimmer.

Donghyuck finishes wrapping his arm and pulls back.

“Any reason why you’re staring at me?” He asks, raising a brow. Mark blushes but doesn’t look away.

“I just missed you,” Mark admits. Donghyuck wrinkles his nose at the cheesiness, but Mark thinks he catches a hint of color rising to his cheeks.

“Taeyong hyung, we’re all finished,” he calls. Taeyong looks over and smiles. Mark can’t help but feel nervous under his gaze. Based on his looks, Taeyong shouldn’t give off such an intimidating aura. His gentle voice, alluring eyes, and charming smile usually attract more admirers than enemies. However, those admirers who can’t take “no” for an answer have learned the hard way that as a son of Zeus, Taeyong is one of the most powerful demigods at Camp Half-Blood. He can use the wind to fly himself anywhere he wants, and for all Mark knows, call lightning down from the sky to strike his enemies. Because of his powers, he’s been at Camp Half-Blood from a young age, shown by the eight beads on his camp necklace. Taeyong has the knowledge, skills, and experience to defend his title as son of Zeus. Mark is flattered that Taeyong had accompanied Donghyuck on such a minor rescue mission.

Donghyuck helps Mark to his feet and sticks close by his side, as if he was going to help Mark walk. Mark doesn’t bother reminding Donghyuck that it’s his arm that’s injured, not his leg.

“We should get out of here before another monster finds us,” Jeno says, concern in his voice. Having a group of four demigods together, especially with Taeyong being a son of Zeus, was like sending up a flare.

They make their way down the stairs as quickly as possible, Mark hugging his arm to his chest. When they get outside, Taeyong addresses the group.

“I’ll have to fly everyone individually,” he says. “I can take Jeno back first and give you more time to rest, Mark.”

Mark nods, sitting down on the steps that lead up to the apartment complex.

“Wait, Taeyong hyung,” Donghyuck grabs Taeyong’s arm, sounding worried. “Are you sure that you have enough strength to do that?”

“I think I’ll be okay,” Taeyong smiles warmly at Donghyuck, giving him a quick hug. “Hop on, Jeno.”

Jeno gasps, excited at the prospect of flying. He climbs onto Taeyong’s back, holding on tight around his shoulders. He squeals as they lift up into the air, and then they are shooting away through the air toward Long Island.

Donghyuck sits down next to Mark, pulling his legs up to his chest and resting his chin on his knees. The sun is beginning to set, cold settling in the air. Mark scoots closer to Donghyuck to share body heat as they wait.

“It’s pretty incredible,” Mark says absently. “What Taeyong can do.”

“I know,” Donghyuck murmurs. He gazes at the sidewalk before them, watching the pedestrians go past, completely unaware of the pair of demigods feet away from them. “Taeyong is like an older brother to me. He’s amazing, but he deals with a lot.”

Donghyuck tilts his head to look at Mark. His eyes are amber in the light of the setting sun. Mark forgets all about the threat from monsters, his worries about his father and his friends.

“I missed you too, you know,” Donghyuck nudges Mark’s shoulder with his own. “Even though you’re nerdy and can hardly nock an arrow.”

“Thanks, I think,” Mark pretends to be hurt by Donghyuck’s words, but grins despite himself. Donghyuck laughs and cuddles into Mark’s side, wrapping an arm around him.

They sit together on the steps for a few more minutes, enjoying each other’s presence and awaiting Taeyong’s return. Mark tries to ignore the butterflies that erupt in his stomach. When Jeno, Jaemin, Lucas, or any of his other friends, for that matter, hug him like this, he never feels butterflies. So why is it different with Donghyuck?

When Taeyong lands gracefully on the sidewalk, Mark and Donghyuck separate quickly. Courteously, Taeyong pretends not to notice.

“Mark should probably come next. Be careful, Hyuck, okay?” Taeyong says.

“I’ll be fine,” Donghyuck reassures Taeyong. “Come back quickly.”

Mark gets onto Taeyong’s back as Jeno had, but it is a bit more difficult with his injured arm.

“Hold on tight,” Taeyong warns, gripping onto Mark’s legs tightly as they begin to leave the ground. Mark isn’t really a fan of heights so he chooses to squeeze his eyes shut tight, concentrating on staying on Taeyong’s back as the fly through the air at incredible speeds. After mere minutes, they begin to slow down and descend. Mark hears a small pop as they break through the barrier that protects Camp Half-Blood from monsters. Mark only opens his eyes once Taeyong’s feet have touched solid ground. He gets down carefully, saying thank you to Taeyong before the boy takes off once more.

Mark takes a moment to examine his surroundings. The grass in Camp Half-Blood is green despite the trees beyond the borders being snow-covered. There is a chill breeze in the air, but the sun peeks through the clouds and makes it a pleasant day nonetheless. Taeyong has deposited him by the Big House, where Chiron lives and where administrative duties are carried out. Jeno sits on the porch, Jaemin by his side. When Jaemin sees that Mark is looking at them he stands up.

“Mark!” He extends his arms in Mark’s direction, running over to sweep him up in a hug. Mark laughs at the boy’s enthusiasm.

“Hey, man. How’ve you been?” Mark greets.

“It’s been awesome. I have so many projects going at the moment,” Jaemin’s eyes sparkle, and Mark notices the ash smeared on his cheek from working around the fires. “How about you?”

“I’m just glad to be back,” Mark sighs. “It’s so much better here.”

Jaemin gives him a knowing smile.

“That’s just what Jeno was saying,” Jaemin says, looking back over his shoulder to gaze at the son of Aphrodite. Jeno is now chatting with Jungwoo, who had come over to greet him. Mark grins as he notices the way Jaemin’s voice softens around the syllables of Jeno’s name. “Do you think you’ll stay?”

“I sure hope so,” Mark replies.

“Mark!” Mark turns as someone calls out his name. It’s Doyoung, flanked by Johnny and Jaehyun. He also spots Taeil, Yuta, and Sicheng not too far off in the distance, observing them. Mark feels slightly intimidated by all of the older kids focusing their attention on him. “Back so soon?”

“I couldn’t stay away,” Mark responds, grinning as Doyoung ruffles his hair affectionately.

“We’re glad to have you back,” Johnny remarks. Mark laughs when Johnny winks at him playfully.

Jaehyun gently takes his injured arm, examining the wraps.

“Hyuck did a good job, but I still expect you to come in for a check-up, alright?” Jaehyun says sternly. Mark nods dutifully.

“Don’t overwhelm him,” Jungwoo scolds Jaehyun as he approaches, Jeno following. Jaehyun takes Jungwoo under his arm, whispering something in his ear that makes Jungwoo smile and slap Jaehyun’s arm. Jaemin coughs loudly, making his disgust known.

“Brat,” Jaehyun says playfully. “Don’t forget who nursed you back to health.”

“Oh, it’s Taeyong hyung and Donghyuck!” Jungwoo says, pointing at a shape approaching from the distance. However, as they get closer, it’s clear that something is wrong. Taeyong’s control over the air seems to be worsening, their descent jerky. As they touch down in the grass, Taeyong’s skin is pale and he’s breathing hard.

“Taeyong? Are you okay?” Donghyuck asks, holding onto Taeyong’s shoulder as the boy sways slightly, eyes closing.

“Don’t worry…” Taeyong starts saying something, but then he’s collapsing. Mark lets out a gasp, watching as Taeyong falls, uncontrolled. Johnny rushes forward, catching Taeyong in his arms before he can hit the ground.

“Oh my god,” Jaehyun sighs, looking tired, as if this were a regular occurrence. “Bring him to the infirmary please, Johnny.” Jaehyun kisses Jungwoo on the cheek before starting to walk over to the medical building.

Johnny nods, lifting Taeyong into his arms as if he weighs nothing. Taeyong is completely passed out, body limp and head resting against Johnny’s chest. He looks peaceful, Mark thinks. Johnny looks down at Taeyong with soft eyes before gently readjusting him in his arms and following after Jaehyun.

“What happened?” Jaemin asks, breaking the tense silence that had fallen over the group.

“He exhausted his power,” Doyoung explains. “He’ll be okay, he just needs to sleep for a while. Controlling the wind takes a lot of his energy.”

Mark leans closer to Donghyuck and whispers in his ear.

“Have Johnny and Taeyong always been a thing?”

The corner of Donghyuck’s mouth lifts into a pleased smile. He takes Mark’s uninjured arm and leads them in the direction of the infirmary. “Johnny has liked Taeyong basically since he met him, like five years ago,” Donghyuck says. “It’s always been obvious to everyone else, but Taeyong is just starting to realize it.”

“Do you think Taeyong likes him back?” Mark asks.

“It’s hard to tell,” Donghyuck responds. “Even if he does, Taeyong has always had difficulty fully opening up to people. But Johnny is patient, so,” Donghyuck shrugs, “we’ll see.”


	4. Enemies

The infirmary is a white, tent-like building with large windows. It allows for the impression that you’re outside, which is much more pleasant for injured campers than a stuffy building. Mark and Donghyuck walk inside and instantly realize the chaos that they’ve encountered.

The first person that Mark sees in Qian Kun, the head of the Hecate cabin. Mark had never met him before, but he knows that Renjun had come to see Kun as an older brother during the previous summer, so Mark is concerned to see that he’s lying on a cot and being treated by Jaehyun. He has his left arm out of his jacket, outstretched to allow Jaehyun access to the long slash that runs the length of his upper arm. He appears tense, watching as Ten paces back and forth across the room. Ten has his arms crossed, obviously agitated as well. On the other side of the room, Johnny has placed Taeyong on another cot and is sitting in a chair beside him, ignoring the situation and petting Taeyong’s hair. No one seems to have noticed their entrance except for Jaehyun, who shakes his head as if to say, _bad time_.

“Well maybe if you weren’t so fucking annoying with your magic powers, I wouldn’t have actually done it,” Ten bites. Kun lifts an eyebrow at this, unimpressed.

“Why weren’t you using practice swords, anyway?” Jaehyun asks, preparing his supplies for giving Kun stitches. Ten crosses his arms over his chest, adopting his trademark look of stubborn defiance. Mark notices that Ten had dyed his hair since the summer and let it grow out. His hair, once midnight black, is now a warm chestnut color. The wavy strands, a bit sweaty from training, fall haphazardly over his forehead. It makes him look younger, deceptively innocent.

“The practice ones don’t handle well,” Ten says, trying to defend himself. Kun lets out a dry laugh.

“And they say Ares’s kids are stupid,” Kun remarks sarcastically. At this, Ten lunges forward, reaching for the collar of Kun’s jacket. Kun reaches out his other arm, using his powers to freeze Ten in mid-air. Kun grins wickedly, reaching up to pat Ten on the cheek. Ten growls at him, but is unable to do anything. “It’s okay, Ten. I know you’re smart enough to stop fucking with me.”

Kun releases Ten from his magical hold and Ten grabs Kun by his collar, pulling him up to stand in front of him. The two boys are nose to nose, glaring at each other, and Mark gulps. Jaehyun just sighs, slamming a bottle of hydrogen peroxide against the counter.

“Ten. Leave,” Jaehyun says sternly, standing up and pointing to the door. Kun gives him an infuriating smirk. Ten glares at him, then at Jaehyun, before letting go of Kun’s jacket and relaxing his stance. He turns around to leave, and Mark lets out a breath of relief, thinking that a fight had been avoided, but then Ten spins suddenly, punching Kun across the face.

Ten is different than most of Ares's children- while they're all brawn and bulging muscle, Ten's build is slight, slender. His narrow shoulders, thin wrists, and protruding collarbones make him look fragile. He's anything but, which Mark knows from experience, having been on the receiving end of one too many blows that knocked his sword clean out of his hands. Ten knows how to use his lean muscle, nimble on his feet and surprising power behind his hits. Mark winces at the sound of Ten's fist colliding with Kun's cheekbone. Kun's hand flies up to the point of contact, which is blooming red, and then looks back up at Ten, eyes murderous.

Donghyuck gives a shocked gasp and even Johnny’s attention is captured by the turn of events. Kun tackles Ten to the ground. The two boys wrestle for dominance on the floor, managing to knock over an entire cart of medical supplies. It crashes to the floor with a loud _bang_. Johnny rushes forward, tearing Ten away from Kun before the son of Ares could land any more punches. Ten stalks toward the door, slamming it behind him. Jaehyun hauls Kun back onto the cot.

“I’m sorry, Jaehyun,” Kun apologizes, blushing hard as he realizes the scene that he’d just made. With Ten gone, Kun's anger subsides quickly. “I’ll clean everything up.”

Jaehyun just nods, tossing him an icepack for the bruise blossoming on his cheekbone.

“This might hurt,” he warns, not sounding particularly sympathetic, before starting in on the stitches. Kun hisses softly in pain, but closes his eyes and resigns himself to his fate.

A soft, confused noise comes from Taeyong’s cot. Taeyong struggles to sit up, rubbing at his eyes.

“What happened?” he groans. “I heard a bang.”

Johnny rushes over to the side of Taeyong’s cot, urging the boy to lay back down.

“Nothing, you’re okay. Go back to sleep, Yong,” Johnny soothes, laying a blanket over Taeyong’s body and running his fingers through his hair. Taeyong seems comforted by this, murmuring a sleepy _okay_ and closing his eyes again.

Donghyuck and Mark, still standing in the entrance, give each other a wary look.

“Maybe we should come back later, then,” Donghyuck calls out. Jaehyun spares a quick glance up and nods. 

“Yeah, maybe.”

***

It turns out to be much later that Mark finds himself trudging back to the infirmary. They’d all just finished dinner together when Mark remembered that he needed to get his wrap changed. Jaehyun had instructed him to head to the infirmary and he’d wait for him there.

Mark pushes open the door carefully, not exactly sure what to expect on the other side after this afternoon. The infirmary’s atmosphere is warm and cozy, lamps gently illuminating the space. It’s empty except for two people in the corner. Well, only one conscious person.

Ten is sitting by Taeyong’s bed and resting his head on his arms. His eyes are open but unfocused. Mark isn’t sure whether or not to say anything. He and Ten weren’t friends, per se, but Mark liked Ten. Once he got over his initial wariness based on Ten’s appearance, Mark realized that he was actually very funny, down-to-earth, and an extremely loyal friend. Ten had instructed sword fighting last summer, and his honest feedback was probably why the scorpion hadn’t gotten the best of Mark earlier.

“Hey, Mark,” Ten says softly, just as Mark was about to decide to go sit quietly and wait for Jaehyun.

“Oh,” Mark says, surprised. “Hi.” He moves closer to the pair. Ten looks the most subdued that Mark’s ever seen him. No weapons strapped to his back, leather jacket on the floor next to him, curled into himself- Ten almost looks small. Mark isn’t really sure what to do, but he takes a seat on a chair on the other side of the cot. Taeyong is still sleeping soundly, wrapped up in a blanket. “Are you keeping watch?”

“Mmm?” Ten’s eyelashes flutter as he looks up at Mark, thoughts interrupted. “Oh. Yeah, just staying with Taeyong. I wouldn’t want him to wake up alone.”

Mark notices how Ten absentmindedly rubs at his hand. His knuckles are beginning to bruise from the fight earlier.

“Is your hand okay?”

“Yeah,” Ten laughs, stretching out his fingers to test the pain. “Gods. I don’t know why I did that. Kun’s just so-” Ten cuts himself off mid-sentence, shaking his head and laughing. “Nevermind. You don’t want to hear about all of this personal shit.”

“You can talk about it if you want,” Mark says, shrugging. “I don’t mind.”

Ten holds Taeyong’s pale hand with both of his own, tracing the prominent veins with his thumbs, thinking before he begins to speak.

“Well, Taeyong has always been my best friend. We’ve been here the longest, you know? Oh, wait, I guess you wouldn’t. But yeah, Taeyong and I both got here when we were really young and we were really good friends because of that. It was just the two of us until Johnny and Jaehyun came the next summer. I liked Johnny for a while, but it got messy because Johnny has only ever had eyes for Taeyong. It hurt,” Ten lets out a sigh. “Then a couple years ago Kun got here, and I realized the same thing was happening again. I guess… it’s just easier to hate him than…”

Ten trails off, but Mark knows what he’s trying to say.

“Love him?” Mark asks carefully. Ten nods, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Is Kun dating anyone?”

“Well, no, but…” Ten says, looking slightly guilty.

“You should give it a chance,” Mark says. “You never know what could happen.”

Ten gives him a small smile and Mark returns it. The two boys fall into a comfortable silence, studying the steady rise and fall of Taeyong’s chest. A few moments later, Jaehyun pushes open the door and Mark goes to get his wraps changed.

***

Mark is awoken the next morning by a yawning Doyoung. He takes a quick shower and throws on a hoodie with some shorts. The two make the trek over the dew-filled grass toward the dining pavilion for breakfast. Mark grabs his food and sits by Jeno and Donghyuck at the end of a long table which the entire group of friends manages to fill.

Mark has just begun eating when Donghyuck gasps and jumps up, running toward the two people who had just arrived. It’s Taeyong, finally awake, and Yuta accompanying him. Donghyuck gives Taeyong a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Never do that again,” Donghyuck scolds Taeyong. Taeyong coos and ruffles Donghyuck’s hair.

“Sure,” he responds. Donghyuck pouts at the lack of a promise. Taeyong frowns as he surveys the group at the table. “Where’s Ten?”

The sound of people talking and forks scraping plates halts as people look around. Mark’s eyes instantly go to Kun. He’d been shoveling down a waffle but stopped instantly, looking pale. No one speaks up and the silence is deafening.

“Lisa? Do you know?” Taeyong calls over to the next table. Lisa, another child of Ares, shakes her head.

“No. He wasn’t in the cabin when I woke up this morning,” Lisa frowns. “Sorry, Taeyong.”

Taeyong bites his lip, face falling. Yuta puts his hand on Taeyong’s shoulder.

“I saw him this morning,” Kun speaks up. Everyone looks in his direction. “He came to talk to me, but I said something that made him angry with me and he left my cabin,” Kun’s lip wobbles in a moment of uncharacteristic weakness. “I don’t know where he went, but maybe,” A tear falls onto Kun’s cheek but he swipes it away as soon as it’s fallen. “Maybe what I said made him run away from camp,” Kun gets choked up, burying his face in his hands as his shoulders shake. Mark can tell that the people around him are just as shocked as he is at the fact that Kun is crying. Johnny puts an arm around Kun’s shoulders and draws his face into his chest. Taeyong watches the interaction with a frown, looking skeptical about Kun’s story.

Mark’s mind races. Is this about the advice that he’d given Ten the night before?

“What did you guys talk about?” Taeyong asks. Kun looks up at Taeyong through teary eyes, taking a deep breath before responding. Mark leans forward, wanting to know the answer as well.

“I… I can’t say,” Kun says, sniffling. “He wouldn’t want me to say.”

“You need to tell me,” Taeyong presses on. “It could help us figure out where he went.” Mark can tell that Taeyong is trying his best to keep his calm.

“I can’t tell you. It’s between us,” Kun frowns, wiping the last of his tears away. “It doesn’t matter anyway. It wouldn’t have anything to do with where he went.”

“Ten is _missing_ , Kun. Tell me!” Taeyong snaps. He's growing hysterical now, and it reflects in the weather. Far off in the distance, Mark hears the telltale sound of thunder. Kun straightens his back, scowling at Taeyong.

“Back off," Kun scoffs, visibly growing irritated. "It’s not important and it’s not for you to know.”

Taeyong bristles at the accusation, obviously offended. Ten's voice echoes in Mark's ears. _Taeyong has always been my best friend_.

"I know you and Ten have never really gotten along, but really, Kun, I thought you were better than this." Taeyong's voice is condescending, mean. Mark never thought he'd see the day when Taeyong was anything other than charmingly sweet.

Kun's blushes at the callout, but he doesn't back down. "Are you sure about that, Taeyong?" When he responds, his voice doesn't waver. He wears the same smirk that had caused Ten to punch him in the face. "You haven't been a very good friend to Ten lately. You have no idea what me and _Tennie_ get up to nowadays, do you?" The insinuation causes Taeyong's mouth to fall open, his fists clenching at his sides at the way Kun uses Taeyong's nickname for the boy, twisting it into something malicious. Kun's eyes are colder than the air back in New York City, but Taeyong’s anger burns hotter.

“Kun!” The silverware rattles as Taeyong shouts and slams his hands on the table, a shock of cold air blasting through the pavilion. It forces Mark’s hair from his forehead. “You can tell me privately if you need to, but this is more important than keeping whatever little secret you two have.” The sky above them has gone dark as the thunderclouds roll in.

“Taeyong, calm down,” Johnny says. He'd kept his voice gentle, but Taeyong still looks betrayed. He looks around, noticing for the first time the scared faces of the other campers and the storm that has begun to brew in the clouds. He looks wounded, breathing quickening as he stumbles back a couple steps from the table. Taeyong crosses his arms in front of himself protectively, cheeks turning red. His gaze is fixed on the way that Johnny’s arm shelters Kun, the way that Kun leans into the point of contact.

“I-I’m sorry,” he says in a small voice, tears forming in his eyes. As the first tear runs down his cheek, lightning cracks in the sky and heavy rainfall hits the sidewalk. Taeyong, no longer able to bear the sight of Johnny and Kun, turns and runs away, disappearing into the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the tension~~ *mark's chef's kiss face*


End file.
